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Meena paati's tales

Our childhood was truly enriched by the many interesting tales we heard from Meena paati. 

My personal favorite was her pisashu stories - though she used it to her advantage to manipulate me. I was scared out of my wits when she announced in a menacing tone: "Rendu Kannan varan" (The two-eyed is lurking). I certainly did not pause to think what was so unusual about anyone having two eyes. But such was the impact of her tone and magic. Meena reigned supreme over all the unassuming kids of the Podanur household.  

Of all her tales though, this one was interesting ( spoiler alert: I don't know the full story).

This one is about a stingy guy who used to announce everyday before his meal every day: "saappattukkulla perellam varalam, varalam" (Anyone who wants a meal are welcome here). And he immediately shut his door lest someone comes to partake in the lunch (It was charitable to invite people to partake in the meals). One mischievous bloke wanted to teach this guy a lesson and apparently hid in the stingy guy's home the previous night. When the stingy guy announced his bit and shut his door, the mischief monger jumped on him and demanded lunch. 

I don't recollect how the story ended, but knowing Meena, I guess the end would surely rile us. 

Most of her tales had some element of defecation, discharge of intestinal gas, ghosts, and all those elements to attract young lads. 😜

Another tale goes like this:

There was this quarrelsome husband who never appreciated his wife. One day just before the wife was about to serve food to her husband, their child defecated on the floor right next to the dining area. The wife had no time to clean it up, and fearing unwelcome comments from her husband, she covered the shit with a pathram. The husband was served food and as usual he made a derogatory comment about the food asunder: "idha thinnaradhukku pesama amedhyattha thinnalam" (I would rather eat shit than eating this). The wife immediately retorted, "adhukkenna, adhaiyum vachirukken" (Sure, we have that too) and uncovered the shit.

Meena's tales were educative in more than one way 😄. 

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